


Dimension Hopping 101

by mauvera



Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Dimension Travel, Gen, Miles needs to not just jump into other universes, Spider-Verse, hobo peter parker is my fav, ive tagged major character death but also not really??, sorry chapter two got a bit sad but the rest of it should be fun, thats a bad idea kid, theyre all my children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-18 02:39:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16986579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mauvera/pseuds/mauvera
Summary: Miles should definitely not touch the swirling black hole in the space time continuum. Right?Yeah. Right. Super bad idea.So why was he tempted to do it anyway?Before he could let something as stupid as reason or logic get in the way, he jumped.





	1. In which Miles makes good choices (except not)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi so I love Into the Spider-Verse and all of the Spider-People are my new favourites and no one else has written fics yet so guess I have to do this myself

So… that was a hole in his dimension. Right?

 

Miles peered closer, his fingertips still stuck firmly to the window that he was perched on. At this point in his Spider-Man career he was too used to all the crazy stunts he could pull that the thirty floor drop below didn’t even phase him. But what did freak him out a little bit was that hole. The glowy black abyss before him that seemed to bubble around the edges leaking blues and pinks.

 

He sat back against the glass, resting casually on his haunches as he considered his options. He couldn’t just ignore it right? Nah. That’d be crazy. But as far as he knew there were no other colliders being built. King Pin had been rotting in jail for months. And he had totally just taken down Doc Ock last week in this epic showdown that was all like POW! PEW!! WHAM! KAPLOW!!!!

 

It was pretty cool.

 

Okay so with those two gone how did this happen.

 

Miles couldn’t help it, he reached out one gloved hand to poke at the swirling, inky darkness. It spluttered, spitting out little sparks of pinks and violet. Woah. _Coooool._

 

He should get help. Maybe he could call May Parker, she was one of only two people who knew his secret identity so he was pretty sure she’d be willing to at least listen to him. But maybe it was an emergency. Maybe the world was gonna explode at like any second.

 

Miles stared at the darkness. It didn’t stare back. Mostly because it was an inanimate hole in the space time continuum, but still.

 

It didn’t _look_ like it was going anywhere.

 

He circled the mysterious hole as best he could while being attached to the outside of a skyscraper by only his fingers and toes. Nup. It wasn’t moving. It wasn’t growing or anything, just… sitting. Chilling. Waiting for some overly adventurous kid to throw himself into another dimension. Maybe. Probably not.

 

Urghhhhh.

 

Miles groaned, slapping himself in the face. _Okay Miles. You can do this. You can fix this freaky dimension problem. It doesn’t even matter that last time you had five other Spider-People._ You _are Spider-Man now. So fix it._

 

He blinked a couple times, just to make sure he was still seeing it. Maybe it was a fake, an illusion, maybe he had just been spending too much time lately missing his Spider Friends. Gah. Who knows? Not Miles that’s for sure.

 

 _Focus Miles_ , he reprimanded himself.

 

Okay how about a checklist?

 

There’s a hole in space. Check.

He is the only one who knows about it. Check.

It could be very dangerous. Double check.

It would be a really, _really_ stupid idea for Miles to jump through it right now. Like, quadruple check.

Miles may still possibly be a little bit jealous that all the other Spider-People got to go to another dimension but he never got to see anywhere else… check…

The ominous, scary black hole of danger looked super appealing right now. Check.

Miles never did say he made good choices. Check.

So no one would blame him if he just so happened to “fall” into the dimension hole by “accident”. Check?

 

He breathed in deeply, his legs gathered beneath him in preparation for a leap that he should almost certainly and definitely not take.

 

And then he jumped.

 

_Oh no._

 

_-_

 

 _“_ Aw man,” Miles complained, rubbing at his sore butt. “No one told me dimension travel involved falling out of the sky and getting dumped on your ass.”

 

 _Oh man maybe I shouldn’t talk out loud so much,_ Miles glanced around frantically, suddenly aware that he had just landed in a totally unknown dimension and had literally no idea if people were nice here. _What if this is an evil dimension?! Like if everyone here was the opposite of everyone I know?! Oh my god what if there’s an evil me?_

 

“Okay,” Miles said to himself, already having forgotten exactly why it was he shouldn’t be speaking aloud “it’s probably not an evil dimension. Those don’t look like evil billboards. And those guys down there don’t look suspicious. So it’s fine. Everything is cool. I’m cool. It was a good idea to jump into a dimension hole with no idea where it will go or how I’m going to get back or who made it or who-“

 

Miles’ voice that had been rapidly increasing in speed was halted when a hand clapped across his mouth. _I’m gonna die_.

 

He screwed his eyes shut, refusing to accept the fact that he was gonna die in a totally weird, different dimension all on his own because he was dumb enough to willingly jump into mysterious dimension gaps just because he was maybe a bit jealous that he didn’t get to do it last time. _Wait. I’m not dead. Why am I not dead?_

 

One of his eyes peeked open, squinting into the sunlight that, yeah, he could still totally see. He wasn’t dead. The other eye cracked open a fraction. Yup. Both working. His attacker hadn’t already gauged them out with an ice cream scoop yet. _Good start._ Miles’ breath was coming in sharp, quick inhales through his nose because his mouth was still busy being trapped under the stranger’s hand. Out of the edges of his sight he could just see a glimpse of white glove and an incredibly familiar design crossing it. Then he heard a voice coming from behind him.

 

“No way,” the voice said softly, with a distinctly feminine and achingly familiar tone, “Miles?”

 

“Hey Gwen,” Miles tried to say, but her hand still hadn’t left his face so he was pretty sure he said “heoy Fwren”

 

 _Eh close enough_.

 

His face was freed from her grasp as she grabbed his shoulders and turned his body around from where he still sat crumpled on a rooftop. The first thing he saw was the bright, wide lenses of her mask. _Oh my god. It’s Gwen. She’s here. I’m here._

 

For one whole second he wondered if he should try the shoulder move. _No that’s dumb. Bad idea. Bad Miles._

 

“M-Miles?” She said again. It was like his presence alone was enough to short circuit her entire brain. _This is the first time in my entire life where I’m not the one who’s tongue tied_ , he thought triumphantly, _nice. I could get used to this_.

 

“Miles I have so many questions,” Gwen declared even as she grabbed his face, still in its mask, turning him this way and that to examine that he really was there “How did you even get here? Why are you here? Are you okay? Is Peter with you? Are you in trouble? Am I in trouble? Why aren’t you answering me?!”

 

Miles couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped him, his hands reaching up to still the frantic and erratic searching of hers as she poked and prodded him like that was the way to get answers out of somebody. “Gwen. Chill.” He said, holding her hands hostage until he was sure she would stop her well-meaning assault, “I found a dimensional hole and now I’m here. No one is chasing me. I dunno where it came from. I didn’t even know this was your dimension until you attacked me-“ “Uh I did _not_ attack yo-“ “You totally just attacked me, but anyway that’s it. I know literally nothing else.” Miles shrugged, “I dunno how it got in my world, I dunno why it leads here, I dunno what it means.”

 

Gwen finally seemed to have calmed down. Her hands still clasped firmly in Miles’ grasp. She seemed to pout for a second there, even if it was hidden beneath the mask but Miles totally knew that was what she was doing.  

 

“So you can’t help me with that then huh?” She said in defeat. Miles just cocked his head in confusion until she sighed and indicated to her left with a jerk of her head. Miles’ eyes traced the path she’d indicated to see a dimensional portal just like the one he’d jumped through on the next roof over but this one was spurting out red and blue bursts of colours.

 

_Huh._

 

Miles turned back to Gwen sheepishly, “Uh yeah sorry Gwen I’m not gonna be super useful with that. I don’t know anything like… ever.”

 

He was pretty sure she’d just rolled her eyes at him which he definitely wanted to be indignant about but before he could come up with a super witty comeback he found himself smothered in her arms. The hug took him so totally by surprise that he just froze. It wasn’t until she seemed to register his stillness as discomfort that she began to back off again, apology already on her lips but at that point Miles’ brain had started functioning again and he wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her close to him.

 

“I missed you,” she said quietly into his ear. Miles couldn’t help the shiver of delight that ran through his body so he just clutched her tighter and hoped that’d cover it up.

 

“I missed you too,” He finally choked out.

 

After what could have been seconds or hours the pair pulled apart, both awkwardly rubbing at the backs of their necks as they tried to figure out how to act around one another after not seeing each other for months and then being wrapped up in a tangle of arms and legs where they sat in a pile of limbs.

 

Gwen managed to save them from the uncomfortable silence, which Miles was grateful for, except that it involved her asking a certain question, which Miles was _less_ grateful for.

 

“Wait how’d you even get here? Did you seriously fall into a dimensional rift or were you dumb enough to voluntarily go through it?” She crosses her arms and glared at him, “I don’t even know which one of those two options is stupider.”

 

_Ah. Damn it._

 

“Hey, hey hold up,” Miles said, “You would’ve jumped too and you know it.”

 

Gwen managed to fit an impressive amount of judgment into that glare of hers.

 

“Fine whatever, but you need to go home Miles,” She said already up and yanking at his arm as she tried to drag him up and towards the portal he had just fallen from. He finally got his first actual look at it, red and black spots spurting sporadically around the edges of the universe’s tear. It looked kinda badass. His attention was drawn back to Gwen who was still resolutely pulling at him unsuccessfully.

 

“Miles, Miles c’mon you’ve got to go,” she whined “Your body won’t survive in my dimension.”

 

Miles, like a good friend continued to sit there. Gwen seemed to have stopped playing around as the tugging at his arm gradually increased in force. The fun thing about them both being Spider-People was that their strength was pretty much totally matched. She could try her best to drag him to another universe but he was stuck pretty firmly to that rooftop and he was _not_ leaving until he saw some cool shit.

 

“Miles,” She started.

 

“Nup.” he replied.

 

“Miles,” she warned.

 

“Nup,” he replied.

 

“ _Miles,”_ she threatened.

 

“...nup.” he replied

 

“Oh come on,” Gwen gave up on trying to drag the stubborn, superpowered teen back to where he belonged and settled on just placing her hands on her hips in the most condescending way she could possibly manage. “Alright smart guy, what’s your plan then?”

 

Miles grinned up at her, “I wanna go sightseeing.” He declared

 

“Sightseeing? Seriously? Miles, there are at least two tears in my _universe_ right now and you want to go sightseeing?!” She was incredulous but Miles would not be backing down.

 

“Look, I dunno where these things came from and neither do you, so until we get some new info then I want to take the fact I am in another universe and _do something cool_.”

Gwen didn’t seem convinced, mostly because she definitely wasn’t. Miles tried one last strategy.

 

“We can call it a reconnaissance mission?”

 

He knew immediately by her sigh of defeat that she was going to let him get away with this. _Awesome._

 

“Fine,” she looked him up and down, “but we need to get you some new clothes.” Miles’ stutters of protest were immediately ignored, “Miles think about it, I am the only Spider-Woman on this Earth, if you show up wearing all that,” she gestured at the very obvious black and red getup he was in “then people are going to start asking questions and we don’t really have the answers.” She began to make her way across the roof, not even waiting for Miles to scramble up and chase after her.

 

“Wait!” He called out, “Where are we going?”

 

“You’re coming to my place now hurry,” She urged, shooting a web at a nearby building and swinging gracefully, looking just as much like the elegant dancer he remembered.

 

“Uh Gwen, Gwen!” To no one’s surprise she ignored him entirely, trusting that he was at least competent enough to follow her “I don’t think I’m gonna fit your clothes!”

 

The only sound he could hear past the rushing of wind in his ears was a sweet, melodic laugh from the swinging figure before him.

 

_Typical._

 

-

 

They’d finally landed in a pretty nice suburban area, _damn her parents must be rich_ , Miles thought immediately feeling out of place. He tugged uncomfortably at the sleeve of the jacket he was wearing. Gwen assured him that she would go back and return it to the clothesline they’d stolen it from. Paranoid, he dug his hands back into the jacket pockets to make sure his mask was still tucked safely inside. They’d eventually decided nothing could be done about his pants but hopefully if no one looked too close they’d just mistake the black for jeans.

 

Miles had only just crossed the threshold of Gwen’s home, still distracted by the feel of her hand in his guiding him confidently forward, when a large shape appeared in the doorway.

 

“Gwen,” came a rough voice. Miles peeked over his shoulder to see one hell of an intimidating man looming behind him. Gwen halted, and glanced back.

 

“Hey dad.” She said with genuine cheer.

 

“Hi sweetie, who’s your friend?” He asked in the way dads have where they manage to phrase a question so it sounded totally innocent enough but everyone definitely knew there was some subtext along the lines of “who is this boy and why is he interacting with my precious daughter, I trust your judgement and respect your freedom to befriend whom you wish but be warned I will not hesitate to disembowel him if he hurts you.” Or something.

 

“This is Miles. He’s knew around here. An exchange student.” She said quickly and almost convincingly. “I just invited him over because he doesn’t have any friends yet so I thought it’d be nice, is that okay?” Miles was almost impressed by her ability to ignore the very obvious glare he was sending her way.

 

“Oh sure thing sweetheart,” her dad said, relaxing when his suspicions towards Miles were relieved having learnt he was a loser that his daughter pitied enough that she clearly felt obliged to invite him over. “Where are you on exchange from?” He asked politely.

 

“He’s from Brooklyn.” She said before kissing her dad lightly on the cheek and danced upstairs dragging Miles along behind her. They left her father there, suddenly suspicious again because why the hell did a kid from Brooklyn need to go on exchange to _Queens_?

 

-

 

Miles was happy when her bedroom door closed behind them, saving him from having to address any more uncomfortable questions from her dad.

 

“So, he’s a cop,” Miles noted “Must suck what with your, uh, chosen career path,” Gwen spared him a glance only to notice the rueful grin on his face.

 

“Yeah I’m sure you can’t relate at all huh?” She laughed.

 

“Oh no, no way. No idea. Total mystery. Don’t even know what you’re referring to.”

 

The pair stood for a moment in a still silence before a tiny giggle escaped from Gwen, then Miles began to chuckle until they both found themselves wheezing with laughter. _That wasn’t even funny_ , Miles thought between breaths, _this whole thing is just crazy_ . As he continued to stand there in the bedroom of a girl he’d only known for a few days months ago, in a whole other universe he thought about how absolutely insane his life was. _Woah, I used to be normal, what even happened to me?_

 

“Alright, lets- ha- let’s calm down, I’ll find some proper pants so you can get out of that onesie.” Gwen said, the smile never leaving her voice. Miles grinned right back before making his way around her room. Looking at a collection of sketches taped to the wall, all differing designs for what must be Gwen’s band. He picked up the pair of drumsticks that lay on the desk and couldn’t help tapping out a small beat while he moved further around the room. There was some kind of flier for a battle of the bands and a whole bunch of dancing awards up on her shelves. It was sweet. Photos of little Gwen were interspersed throughout her possessions and Miles was so caught up in looking through them that he didn’t notice when she re-entered the room, pants in hand. Miles' eye was caught by one particular picture, it was her. Her with her arms wrapped around a boy with both of their faces frozen in the middle of a laugh. Their grins were infectious. Miles could tell just from one glance that that photo had managed to capture a time where Gwen was happier than she’d ever been.

 

“Who’s that?” Miles asked but she needn’t have answered. The moment he really looked at the photo he knew immediately the identity of the boy with brown hair and a wide smile and an eerily familiar face.

 

Gwen didn’t even look up. “That is- was. That was my best friend.” He glanced at her, afraid of what expression he might see lurking deep in her blue eyes, instead all he could focus on was a tear that was blinked away before he could ever be sure he’d seen it in the first place. “Here,” she shoved the pants and spare shirt into his hands “you can get dressed in there, she nodded at the ensuite door. Miles just nodded and moved, not sure what to say now.

 

“Peter.” He turned at her voice. She wasn’t looking at him, her eyes instead were trained on the photograph, unwavering. “His name was Peter.”

 

“I’m sure he was lucky to have you,” Miles seemed to say even though he really couldn’t remember meaning to. Regardless it seemed to make Gwen smile so he counted that as a success.

 

When he emerged out of the bathroom, they both pretended like he totally didn’t know why Gwen just so happened to have a set of teenage boys clothes that maybe also happened to match those worn by the kid in the photo.

 

“So,” Gwen finally said after a nice and awkward silence had settled in the room “Reconnaissance?”

 

_Hell yeah._

 

-

 

What did a reconnaissance mission with two Spider-People look like? Turns out the answer is ice cream and a tiny pizza place tucked in the middle of the city,

 

“-no way, you’re messing with me!” Gwen gasped through a mouthful of pepperoni.

 

“Nah I’m serious, I just had to be like, what? I mean, the guy was dressed like a rhino Gwen. A rhino. And he was all like ‘Ah Spider-Man so we finally meet’ and so I was just lookin right at him y’know, and so obviously I was all ‘Hey man, can you stop holding the zoo staff hostage this clearly isn’t even going to work’”

 

Gwen snorted “then what?”

 

“Well I beat him duh,” Miles grinned with pride, “They dedicated the arachnid enclosure to me.”

 

Gwen’s giggles were probably loud enough that half the other patrons of the restaurant would be complaining but for just that moment Miles didn’t care. He’d had the _best_ day. _They can complain all they want I’m the one who finally gets to share all my superhero stories_. And boy if that wasn’t the best thing to come out of this little interdimensional trip. He had months of adventures and fights that he’d been dying to tell people but the whole superhero secret identity thing was a bit of a damper on that plan, but here with Gwen he could finally just gush about all the cool shit he got to do. And judging by the way she jumped to tell stories of her own, easily matching his in their insanity, he was guessing she was also just about bursting to talk. He really hadn’t known just how much he needed this. Ever since that spider bite his whole life had been centered around one giant secret but here in some crazy alternate dimension it didn’t matter who heard him. He felt so free.

 

Which is of course why at that moment a body crashed through the window.

 

 _Why does this always happen to me?_ He thought even as he jumped to his feet, ready to fight. Beside him Gwen was also up on her toes, poised to leap into action at any moment, but as practical as she was she paused to monitor the situation and figure out whether or not the burly figure that struggling to right itself from amidst the glass and pizza scattered on the floor, was a friend or foe. 

 

Just about everyone had vacated the small diner in seconds, their screams of terror becoming increasingly muffled the further they ran from the scene. _At least people in this universe are actually smart enough to run_ Miles thought, glad he wouldn’t have to waste half as much time as usual taking citizens to safety.

 

He and Gwen edged forward in unison, warily trying to gauge just how much of a threat this guy was.

 

The first thing Miles noticed was the spandex. _No way_ . Then he saw the stomach poking out over the confines of a belt. _You’re kidding me_ . Then there was the achingly familiar ratty jacket that peeled open just enough for Miles to catch a glimpse of a spider imprinted across the guy’s chest. _Oh my god._

 

“Peter?!”

 

At the sound of Miles’ and Gwen’s gasp of surprise the man in question looked up. Miles had to stifle the yelp he so desperately wanted to lose. Peter didn’t have a face. _Ohmygodohmygodohmygod._ Miles was pretty sure it’d be impolite to poke him in the face but the blank red mask before him was seriously freaking him out. Before he had to make any kind of decision about face poking social etiquette though Peter reached up and twisted the mask around in place until the eye lenses were back in place. _Right. Obviously. Of course he would still have a face, his mask just moved. Thank god I didn’t say the whole “no face” thing out loud._

 

Peter seemed to be in shock. His lenses opened at wide as possible while he stared at Gwen and Miles who stared right back. Then he ripped the mask off his face (which was still attached to his body, surprise!). The three of them didn’t say anything just exchanged looks. Then, because he couldn’t help it, Miles jumped forward and hugged Peter.

 

The older man seemed surprised by this turn of events but soon enough he wrapped his arms around Miles, patting him awkwardly on the back. Gwen smiled at the pair until Miles reached up behind him and pulled her into the hug. He missed them, okay? He was gonna hug them whether they liked it or not.

 

“Fancy seeing you here,” Peter finally said, extracting himself from the hug and standing up. He tried to wipe the glass off him and managed to find an entire piece of pizza stuck to his ass. He contemplated it for a whole three seconds before putting it in his mouth, happily ignoring Gwen and Miles’ protests.

 

“Yeah nice to see you too,” she said, her lip curled in disgust the more floor pizza she watched him devour “Not to be rude or anything but why are you here? And how? Also why did you just crash through the window instead of using the door like a normal person?”

 

Peter contemplated her for a second, swallowing the gross glass pizza, “Well, dunno ‘bout the first two but for the last one,” he nodded toward the now open window, “that guy threw me here.”

 

Miles and Gwen whipped around to see a man cackling where he hovered midair.

 

“Vulture. Ugh.” They said.

 

“You guys going to help me or what?” Peter said, still very much collapsed on the ground, although now he was rooting through the rubble to try and grab that box of fries until he gave up and just used his webshooters to bring it closer. Stuffing one in his mouth he looked up at the kids “unless you plan on wearing that.”

 

They both looked down at their civilian getups. Gwen groaned, slung her bag up on her back and dashed into the bathroom to change while Miles just pulled off the shirt and jeans that were covering his suit below, and yanked on his mask. Peter observed them with a surprising amount of calm and made his way through the fries.

 

“That’s kinda weird man, just stripping in the middle of a restaurant,” he commented, bits of potato falling out of his mouth. _Ew_.

 

“Are you really in a position to judge me right now?” Miles asked while he looked over the debris Peter was still happily nestled it.

 

“Eh probably not. Nice pants by the way, I think I used to have jeans like that.” Miles nudged the clothes out of Peter’s curious gaze.

 

“Are you kidding me?” Gwen said when she emerged, “you guys are still here? Someone is trying to destroy my city thanks very much.” Miles could very easily imagine she was rolling her eyes at the pair of them as she began to take a running start before leaping into the air, the other two close behind.

 

“We were- _huff-_ waiting for- _huff-_ You!” Miles said as he swung through the air.

 

“I was eating,” Peter chimed in.

 

“Okay, _I_ was waiting,” Miles corrected himself.

 

“Cool,” Gwen replied, her foot connecting to the back of the Vulture’s head, stopping that stupid cackling “can we focus please?”

 

 _Oh yeah now you don’t wanna talk,_ Miles shot a web into the Vulture’s right wing while Peter went for the left, together they dragged the man down a few feet in the air. _It’s not like it’s crazy that two people from different universes have shown up or anything._ He slammed his fist into the wing, crawling around the metal contraption while he tried to avoid all the projectiles Vulture was shooting at him. _Because universe hoping is a completely normal thing and not worth discussing at all or anything._

 

The fight was over way quicker than Miles would’ve guessed. And definitely way faster than he could’ve done on his own. _The perks of having Spider Friends I guess_.

 

The three of them stood panting in the wreckage, trying to regain their breath when the telltale sound of sirens pierced the air. They turned to the noise as one, all preparing to leave immediately only halting when each Spider ended up facing a different direction.

 

“Where do you two think you’re goin?” Gwen asked.

 

“Uh back to the portals?” Miles said, suddenly unsure “shouldn’t we check to see if more Spider-People have come through?”

 

“I was going to this universe’ Aunt May. She could probably help us again. Useful ally to have.” Both the teens chose to look past the real reason Peter would want another chance to see his aunt, even when he didn’t know if she actually existed here at all.

 

“Right well you guys are wrong. You’re coming with me and we’re going to patch up those wounds.” Gwen declared, referring to the cuts on Miles’ legs where they’d been caught by the edges of Vulture’s wings, and the stab wound in Peter’s side that no one was quite sure how he’d gotten.

 

“It’s okay I heal fast,” they both said in reply, and both moved to head back in the direction they’d indicated only to be caught by white gloved hands clutching the back of their suits.

 

Gwen didn’t get to reiterate her super valid point though because the police had just arrived, led by a man Miles had met that very afternoon.

 

“Freeze Spider-Woman! You’re under arrest!” A megaphone amplified his voice, although it wasn’t quite loud enough to cover the soft “Oh shit” he heard behind him. “And your accomplices too!” Captain Stacy added almost as an afterthought.

 

“Uh no thanks,” Gwen yelled back, a slight shake to her normally strong voice. _No thanks? You can just say no thanks to the police and they won’t arrest you here?!_

 

“Spider-Woman you are under arrest on charges of vigilantism and assault.” He repeated.

 

 _Ah, yeah that makes more sense_. “So your place?” He said aloud instead.

 

“Uhuh,” she agreed.

 

“Sounds good,” Peter murmured and then in one fluid movement the three of them turned from the very angry police captain, each shooting a web into the sky and leaping away from the spray of bullets that followed right behind their retreat, missing only by inches.

 

Although they were technically on the run Miles couldn’t help a smile stretching across his face as he flew across the sky, friends by his side. _I missed this,_ he thought happily.

 


	2. In which actual plot occurs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how I let this become sad, I promise it'll be fun and shenanigans next chapter

“No Peter we don’t have any bagels here,” Gwen said for the fourth time in a row.

 

Peter sniffed the air experimentally, still obviously not trusting her. _Does he seriously think she’s got some kinda bagel-hiding conspiracy goin’ on?_ Miles wondered as he watched the older man sigh in defeat and finally relent to Gwen’s insistent prodding where she was trying to get him to accept the bandages that she was shoving into his hand.

 

“You better not,” he grumbled as he began dressing his injuries, already partially healed up despite their little swing through the city. Miles couldn’t help glancing at him, something was different but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Not that he apparently needed to worry though because Gwen yet again came through and pointed it out.

 

“You’re thinner.”

 

Peter didn’t bother looking up, he just kept wrapping the bandages around himself. Although, he did let out a small scoff. “Why’s everyone gotta comment on my body these days?” He asked no one in particular.

 

“Did you shave?” Miles asked when it seemed Peter wouldn’t elaborate further.

 

“Yeah,” he said, “What’s it to you bud?”

 

“We’re just…” Gwen struggled to find the right words, “Surprised to see you taking care of yourself so much is all.”

 

Peter smiled ruefully. “Annoyingly enough I think I’ve got you guys to thank for that.” Gwen and Miles just stared at him in confusion. “Ugh, do I have to explain it?” He asked, they nodded. _Obviously._ “Alright so after the whole going to Miles’ dimension thingy happened I got back home, went to Mary Jane, we talked, I love her, she took me back, blah blah blah, we moved back in together, she made me start eating healthy. Y’know all that good stuff.”

 

Unsurprisingly they weren’t fooled by his casual tone.

 

“Uh yeah, question?” Miles asked, Peter nodded for him to continue, “How do we factor into that?”

 

“You kids aren’t all that bad, okay?” He was quite resolutely not returning their smug grins “And maybe you guys, I dunno, reinspired me, alright? I was really proud of you Miles. You reminded me what it means to be Spider-Man. And you’re just really cool as a person.” He added for Gwen, her pleased smile enough to show he’d said the right thing.

 

“Aw, you love us,” Miles teased, going in for another hug but still laughing when Peter inevitably pushed him back.

 

“Okay, new Spider-Man rule: no hugging.” Peter said in the least convincing way possible.

 

“Alright you two, can we get back to business?” Gwen’s interruption was then itself interrupted by the very distinctive and ominous sound of  the front door slamming downstairs. All at once the three of them cringed, their Spidey Senses all alerting them in tandem that they were in danger.

 

“We’ve been followed.” Peter hurried to tie off the end of the bandage and pull his suit back up over his chest, _thank god_ , and made his way to the window, peering out to check if the coast was clear. Miles too had pulled his mask back on and was hovering near the door, waiting for instructions on where they should go next. The only one to not immediately panic was Gwen, who simply pulled her own mask on and dragged the other two out her door and up to the ladder that led to her roof, entirely at ease.

 

“Uh, Gwen I don’t think you heard me,” Peter continued, constantly scanning the house for signs of their attackers “We are being _followed_ time is a little bit of the essence here.”

 

“Nah,” is all she said before jumping off the roof and swinging away, confident that the other two would be following right after her. _Guess that makes sense, it’s her universe after all_ , Miles thought and was only bitter that they hadn’t trusted him like this when they came to his universe, then he remembered the way Gwen found him and Peter tangled in the trees when they first met, and he stopped being upset. “It was just my dad that set off your senses. Sorry about that.” She explained when they landed on an office building, out of the public’s sight. “Took me ages to figure out why I kept freaking out whenever he came home until I realised it only happened when I was in the suit.”

 

The boys let out a synchronised “ooohhh” of understanding. Equally familiar with the kind of stress that uniforms and cops mixing together tended to create.

 

“Okay, so if we can manage to get through one whole conversation without getting interrupted,” Gwen said glaring pointedly at the two of them like it was somehow their fault that super villains and dads were notorious for disrupting superheroes. “Then we need to know Peter how you got into my universe? Miles said he found a portal and jumped into it,” She didn’t have to say the words “because he’s an idiot” but he heard them nonetheless, “did you also do that or were you sucked into it like the first time we dimension hopped?”

 

Peter suddenly looked so embarrassed that Miles was about to start cheering that he wasn’t the only one dumb enough to touch the mysterious space rip when Peter spoke and dashed all of his dreams.

 

“Well, short answer: no. Long answer: I, uh, swung into it? Don’t look at me like that. I was just trying to chase down this perp but then there was a weird black bubbly hole in the universe and it was distracting okay? So maybe some part of me was like ‘hey that’s weird’ but I was focused on my job so I spun around to check where the perp was and forgot that I was headed right for the portal and… eh” Peter gestured around him to indicate that running into an inter-dimensional portal was absolutely a normal thing to do and not even a little bit stupid.

 

“And you thought I was dumb.” Miles commented to Gwen who was a bit preoccupied cursing the universe(s) for making them come and make a mess of  her particular dimension. “It’s cool Gwen, its cool,” he said soothingly when she turned to glare at him. “We’ll be out of your hair soon enough.”   _Oh no. Don’t mention Gwen’s hair. That’s rule number one._

 

“And just how do _you_ intend on sorting this out Miles?” She asked, her arms folded tightly in front of her, “I am yet to hear any plans.”

 

_Ah yes. Plans are a thing. I should come up with one of those huh?_

 

“Okay. Yep. Cool. A plan. A plan for the thing. The dimensional thing. The thing with the dimensions.” _You’re stalling Miles!!!!! “_ Okay!” _Yes, I actually have a plan. Perfect. I am such a good Spider-Man. Wait why are they staring at me? Oh I’m not saying anything. Right. Concentrate. “_ Okay step one: go find this universe’s Kingpin. Step two: see if he’s the one doing the dimension shifting stuff. Step three: fight him. Step four: win.”

 

 _That counts as a plan right?_ Miles watched the way Gwen and Peter glanced between each other. _What does that look mean? Did they like it? Did they hate it? Are they gonna stop me being Spider-Man? No… they can’t even do that what am I thinking?_

 

“It’s not the worst plan I’ve ever heard,” Peter said to no one’s surprise. Miles never really got the vibe from Peter that he was the “planning” type. What with the, uh, everything that Miles had ever noticed about him. “Do you know where he is?” He addressed Gwen who was still standing there, her arms crossed in that maybe-she’s-impressed-maybe-she-hates-everything way.

 

“I might have some ideas,” she replied far too cryptically for Miles’ liking but regardless she was already moving, on her way to… well, wherever. Peter and Miles shared one last look of confusion, shrugged, and followed. _Following really seems to be a thing here._

 

The trio made their way through the city where Miles allowed himself a second to be proud of how effortlessly he was keeping up with the other two. From the moment he had encountered the Spider-Man and Spider-Woman before him he’d been in awe. Over the years of being Spider-Man Peter had developed an effortless ease in his every move, he knew himself so well it didn’t take a single second of thought for him to know what he was capable of. He walked across buildings as though gravity had never affected him. For a guy who Miles was pretty sure had not only hit rock bottom, but burrowed under it, when he’d met him, Peter was awe inspiring. Then if he thought about Gwen. Well, how could anyone expect him to describe her? She was incredible. The way she actually danced across the skyline, all of New York was a stage for her. He could never hope to imitate the feather lightness she embodied, her toes would barely touch a surface before she was leaping off it, a perfect combination of precision and poise.

 

Miles pulled at the web in his hand, launching himself higher, faster. That’s what Miles brought. His Spider-Man was quick, he flew between impossible gaps, pushing his body past its limits every day with sheer determination alone. Miles was scrappy. Miles was _strong._ Miles was his own damn Spider-Man and he didn’t need to rely on poise or muscle memory. He was, who he was which meant Miles moved like he had places to be. Nothing was an obstacle.

 

The Spiders slowed as they approached a luxury hotel in the heart of the city. By that point the sun had set, with only the light of streetlamps below and a stream of headlights to illuminate their way. All three halted at the same time, a shared understanding that they needed to regroup before engaging their target. Gwen didn’t have to say it for them to know the hotel was where Fisk must be housed. _Of course he would live somewhere that costs more per hour than my entire house does in a year,_ Miles thought bitterly. A rage he didn’t know he had in him bubbled up in his throat, begging to be released in a scream. A scream for his universe’s Peter Parker. A scream for the corruption Fisk brought into his city. A scream for Miles, whose entire life was turned on its head because of the actions of one selfish man.

 

He had to remind himself to breath, to count to ten, to calm down because the Wilson Fisk inside those expensive walls was not the Wilson Fisk that nearly destroyed everything.

 

“What was step two again?” Peter asked. “We see if he’s the one shifting dimensions?”

 

The other two nodded silently. The gravity of their situation dawning before them. If they were wrong they were risking themselves by breaking into the home of a known supervillain. If they were wrong then they risked _everything._ None of them could claim to really know much about Doc Ock’s invention from Miles’ universe, but they knew even less about whatever it was that had brought Miles and Peter to Gwen’s. Perhaps their interference would cause Fisk to do something crazy, something that would tear the very fabric of reality apart. All realities.

 

“Ladies first,” Peter joked, clearly aware that the two teens were about to get caught in a spiral of panic. He’d been there. It wasn’t a place anyone wanted to be in so Miles was grateful for the distraction.

 

“Alright then, you can go ahead if you insist Peter,” came his shaky reply. Regardless, it earned him a small laugh.

 

“Miles I was suggesting you go of course.”

 

“You sure about that old man?”

 

“Oh you’re going with old man? What sort of a Spider-Man doesn’t have a better comeback than ‘old man’. I believed in you Miles.”

 

“Your mistake,” Miles would’ve stuck his tongue out if there wasn’t a damn mask in his way. _Note to self: make new mask that lets me stick my tongue out._ He pictured just what that would look like and amended his prior thought. _Note to self: Definitely don’t make a new mask that lets me look like such an idiot._

 

“Alright children,” Gwen interrupted, her attention still focused on the real problem at hand as opposed to the practicality of a mask that would only serve to make him look stupid. “Fisk owns the penthouse, although according to the bank a lovely little shell company is the one in charge and is _very_ generously letting Fisk stay there. Not that his name ever appears in the paper trail of course.” Gwen’s voice had darkened, it didn’t take a genius to figure out she must’ve spent months chasing down any kind of leads she could to take Fisk down. Miles had to hand it to him, the guy knew how to make things work for him. What he wanted; he got. “He barely ever leaves this place so I’m pretty sure his little head quarters must be below ground. He would have direct access to them so we’re going to have to infiltrate his private rooms and figure out where to go from there. Last time I scoped this place out I saw at least ten guards that patrol the floor below him with fifteen more outside his rooms. No one is allowed in or out unless Fisk has cleared them.”

 

“Man there is no way we can get in there without being seen,” Miles whined to hide the way his stomach had plummeted at her words. They were doomed. Miles would never see his family again.

 

“Hey don’t worry about it,” Peter said, laying a comforting hand on Miles’ shoulder. “We won’t have to get inside,” he gestured to Gwen including her in their impromptu team huddle. “You are.”

 

_Oh thank god I thought we were going to have to fight our way in- what?_

 

_What?_

 

 _“_ What?!” Miles squawked, scrambling away from Peter’s grasp. “You want _me_ to go in _where?_ ”

 

“There.” Peter said pointing right at the penthouse.

 

“Me?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Not you?”

 

“Not us.”

 

“How is that fair?” Miles nearly shouted, his voice raising just like his blood pressure. _The hell Peter? Thinking I’m going to just go sacrifice myself all alone. What does he think I am? Some kind of distraction while the more competent Spider-People make their way downstairs. That’s not gonna happen buddy. I’m Spider-Man too. We’re in this together._

 

“It’s not bud, I’m sorry.” _Yeah you better be sorry you usele- Wait. He’s sorry?_ “It’s not fair at all but out of the three of us you’re the only one who can be invisible. You’ll have to sneak in while Gwen and I provide a little distraction and try not to get shot.”

 

_Oh._

 

“You trust me enough that you’ll let _me_ do this? On my own?” He couldn’t help but ask. He needed Peter and Gwen to be sure, the last time they’d really seen him in action he had barely been able to stop himself from tripping over his own webs. And now they were willing to just believe he was capable of completing this mission. Man he loved these guys.

 

Miles accepted the mission and a second later he was entirely invisible, swinging across the great expanse between buildings.

 

 _Okay Miles, you can do this. Just keep swimming. Swinging. Just keep_ swinging. _Cool, cool okay I’m on the building. I’m climbing through a window and nobody has noticed, sweet._

 

Slowly but surely Miles made his way across the ceiling and with each and every movement his whole face cringed, _how can they not hear me?_ Before he had time to think too hard about it though the entire room shook. While the guards ran to the windows, taking up defence positions Miles turned and scrambled in the opposite direction. _Wow, Fisk needs to chill on all the gold_ , Miles thought looking at the garish decor. _Who actually wants their house to look like it belongs in the bottom of a pirate’s treasure chest._

 

Perhaps the greatest feat he ever achieved as Spider-Man revealed itself in the way Miles suddenly became very adept at not letting himself get distracted by the cacophonous combination of bullets showering glass and witty one liners accompanied by the sounds of webs thwiping through the air. Maybe he could put it on his resumè.

 

With the guards distracted the coast was clear for Miles to drop to the floor, a lush carpet muffling any sound of his landing. He weaved through expensive furniture and fancy art pieces, opening doors and peering around for any sign of a secret entrance. _Why don’t any super villains make their hideouts super easy to find. That’s just rude._ Glass shattered in the room he’d just left. _Aw man they can’t keep the distractions going on forever. Focus Miles. If you were a creepy old dude who wanted to destroy reality where would you do it from?_

 

Surprisingly enough his attempt to get inside Wilson Fisk’s head didn’t really work out. Not that that mattered of course because even as Miles stood there in the middle of Fisk’s bedroom wracking his brain for ideas, the backing of what he’d thought was a closet slid open. Another dozen goons stepped out and jogged straight towards the fight. Their heavy armour thudded with each step, enough noise to mask Miles pulling back the door and slipping through into the darkness. _Huh, that was easy_ , he thought as he made his way down a winding spiral staircase. He didn’t doubt for a second that he passed through at least three floors as he descended. When the stairs finally stopped he encountered an elevator which, to his luck, didn’t actually need a passcode or anything to activate. _What kinda evil villain just forgets to put in extra security measures?_ He watched the little number at the top of the elevator decrease every second as he plummeted towards the ground. Really he was almost impressed that Fisk had managed to hide an entire elevator shaft in the middle of a bustling hotel. Only guests with a keen eye for dimensions would notice that their rooms were just a little bit smaller and uneven than they should be.

 

Miles was snapped out of his thoughts when he elevator jerked to a stop. _Okay this is it. Gotta find Kingpin. Gotta see what he’s doing. Gotta not die. That’ll be easy I manage to not die every day of my life, piece of cake._

 

As reassuring as those thoughts may have been to others, for some reason Miles was not convinced by his own brain. _No time for panic_ , he reminded himself and bravely stepped out of the elevator’s confines. It was seriously eerie just how similar his and Gwen’s dimensions were, no doubt if he took that exit on the left he would find a tunnel that looked an awful lot like the one in which he was first bit. Miles scanned the vast white cavern he had found himself in. There were the honeycombed panels lining the walls. If he squinted he was almost certain he could see a control panel up there. The collider was just as large and intimidating as he remembered with only one key difference: it wasn’t finished.

 

 _Uh, what?_ Miles shuffled uncertainly out into the centre of the giant room, only to find more and more little clues that tipped him off to the fact that this collider had never even been used. The observation deck had no protective glass, half the roof panels were covered with sheets of plastic, while scaffolding was laid haphazardly across the room. _Kingpin hasn’t even finished this yet. Obviously he plans to but… if it wasn’t him what brought me here? Who’s tearing up reality if it’s not Fisk?_

 

Questions swirled around his mind and no matter how long he stood there the answers never revealed themselves.The spiders needed to regroup, there was just no way for him to figure this out on his own. _No. Stop thinking like that Miles,_ he reprimanded himself, halting mid step through his retreat back to the exit. _We won’t get another chance like this again so figure. It. Out._

 

Determined now to find any kind of explanation to the mystery of his little dimension hop Miles strode forward, each step filled with a determination he hadn’t felt the entire time he’d been inside the building. This was his chance. He would make Peter and Gwen proud.

 

Miles crawled up the wall until he reached the observation deck, despite all the construction equipment lying around which was blocking the faint stream of light from around the collider, he could still see just enough to pick his way over to a computer terminal. Screens filled the space before him although only half were connected but that was enough for him. Miles dug around in the pockets of his suit, and he was sure to send a quick prayer of thanks to May Parker for letting him in on Peter’s secret. The secret where he had spent the first four years straight of being Spider-Man without remembering pockets existed and had just been carrying super-sensitive information and various explosive objects around in his hand.

 

He pulled out a usb drive, _a goober,_ his mind supplied, _ugh how did I let Peter get in my head like this,_ which was the first thing he’d pocketed the second he got back from sending the other Spider-People home all those months ago. He left the computer while the data transferred over and instead chose to poke around a little bit. Leaving the computer terminal he crossed over to the tunnel. _It’s not the same place Miles, you didn’t get bitten here. You didn’t even get bitten in this world. Calm down._ Miles heaved in a deep breath in a weak attempt to still his racing heart. Despite the very imminent time limit he knew he had hanging over his head Miles couldn’t help but retrace a familiar path until he was standing before a blank wall. No art. No spray paint cans. No dead spider. No expectations.

 

_Huh. I don’t even know if I wanted to see that here._

 

The sound of clanging metal emerged from the shadows. Miles whipped around faster than his mind could process, Spidey Sense screaming at him to move. Before he knew what was happening Miles found himself stuck to the roof. Apparently he’d leapt there to avoid the gigantic crowbar that was now lodged into the wall right in the centre of where Miles’ silhouette was, only a few dimensions over of course.

 

Nothing could be heard except Miles’ own ragged breathing as he looked down at the shattered plaster. _Okay cool. So I guess it turns out I’m not alone down here also someone totally wants to kill me. Great._ Miles gritted his teeth, he wasn’t one to back down from a fight before and that certainly hadn’t changed just because now he was all alone beneath a giant tower, mere meters from the place he had seen Spider-Man die. No pressure.

 

“Most people say hello,” his voice rang out, an uncomfortable echo the only thing to answer him, “Though I suppose a crowbar works just as well.”

 

Inch by inch he crawled across the ceiling, still wary of any stray projectiles that might just impale him at any moment but his Spidey-Sense lay dormant. _Is that a good sign?_ he wondered. Regardless no other mysterious objects emerged from the darkness to murder him. Yay.

 

“Okay I’m coming down now if you would please not try to murder me thanks,” he declared, and with a final breath that he hoped wasn’t his last he dropped to the floor.

 

“I appreciate the not murder thing,” he said, still wary. He couldn’t tell who it was that had tried to kill him only a minute ago, or why it was they seemed happy to let him leave now.  “I’m gonna go now if that’s alright with you.”

 

Slowly he backed out of the tunnel, scanning his surroundings with every step. Just as he reached the edge of the tunnel and was about to drop back into the collider he heard a cough.

 

“It’s not alright.”

 

_Oh no._

 

Peering into the darkness Miles was pretty sure he could make out an outline of a man, tall, pretty thin, and the way he moved was almost familiar if a little stilted. It seemed like the man had some kind of injury, favouring his left side with every slow shuffling step. And then he saw his face.

 

_No._

 

“Uncle Aaron?” An unidentifiable swirl of emotions laced his voice.

 

The person before him was a stranger. A shadow of the man he knew. This _thing_ was broken, missing his right arm and half his left leg, he was pale and shaking. He looked on the brink of death.

 

 _No. No. NO! I can’t do this. Not again._ All Miles wanted to do was back away from the horror before him, but behind him was nothing except a sharp drop back into the cavern. He would be too open there. But he was too vulnerable here. He was trapped, certain death one way and some kind of nightmarish trauma before him.

 

The man reached out as best he could, fresh blood dripping onto the floor, not that Miles could even tell where it was coming from.

 

“Miles?” He hadn’t heard that voice in months. No matter what this man looked like, he sure sounded like Miles’ uncle. What he didn’t expect was that this Aaron would sound so shocked. “Miles? Is it really you?”

 

He couldn’t speak. Each and every word he had ever known was gone, lost to some oblivion that he wished would take him next because he didn’t want to be here.

 

“You’re alive?” Not-Aaron said.

 

_Pretty sure I should be the one asking that questi- wait. I’m dead in this reality?!_

 

“Yeah, yeah I’m alive,” his words were halting and uncertain but it didn’t seem like it would matter what he said because Not-Aaron lit up anyway. It was the first time Miles had seen him look like his uncle. It was creepy is what it was. “Who… who are you?”

 

“Who am I? Miles, you said my name. You know me.” Not-Aaron hobbled forward, reaching up like he was going to caress Miles’ cheek but he stopped when he saw the way Miles backed out as far as he could, one foot slipping off the edge of the ledge.

 

“Why do you think I should be dead?” _Is it a bad idea to learn how you died in another universe?_

 

“Why do I think you-” Not-Aaron paused and looked at Miles, his face covered in confusion, “You _did_ die. I- I made sure of it.” Holy shit. Were those tears in Not-Aaron’s eyes. _He murdered me. Well, he murdered other me._ “Wilson Fisk gave me a choice, either I kill my nephew or he kills me. Miles- I, I’m just- I am so sorry. I chose wrong. I hurt you and this is my punishment. He’s brought you back just to torment me hasn’t he?”

 

Miles really wished he was anywhere but there. Anywhere at all.

 

“I’m not here for you.” It was all Miles could say without breaking down. He would just have to push the storm of emotions that twisted inside of him far, far down. He would address them later. For now he had a mission. “I’m not the Miles you think I am, I’m from another dimension. And I don’t know you, so save your apologies for whatever headstone shares my name. I loved my uncle and you’re not him.” Not-Aaron didn’t seem nearly surprised enough to hear that Miles was from a different reality, _guess that’s what happens when you spend your free time dying near a super collider._

 

Despite how wrong it felt to be talking to this man, Miles needed information, and no matter what he might feel about his other-self’s demise, the man needed help. Not-Aaron stumbled forward only to find Miles already there, supporting his weight and gently lowering him to the grimy tunnel floor.

 

“You don’t have to help me y'know,” he said as though Miles couldn’t hear him groan in pain at every small movement. “I ain’t a good guy Miles, I don’t deserve help.”

 

“Spider-Man always helps.” Was Miles’ only response. Instead of talking he chose to simply focus on one problem at a time which meant he needed to address the open wound on Not-Aaron’s arm. Figuring that he’d be forgiven, Miles tore a strip from Not-Aaron’s pant leg that hung uselessly where his shin had been and began dressing the gash down the man’s bicep.

 

“What happened to you?” He couldn’t help but ask, curiosity burning within.

 

Not-Aaron chuckled without a hint of humour. “Doc Ock happened.” Miles patiently continued cleaning blood away while Not-Aaron took some time to gather himself. _Do I even want to hear this?_ “Nothin’s been the same since Kingpin took over Brooklyn, half his men are dead or he pushed them so far the rest are broken,” he didn’t need to say it aloud for Miles to know he was referring to himself, “the Doc got sick of Fisk’s attitude, wasting resources and creating meaningless deadlines all because he was too damn selfish to know that technological revolutions take time and precision. So Doc developed some kinda serum, injected Fisk with it till he ain’t himself. The Fisk that you see walking through this city is practically a puppet, his mind is either gone or trapped, either way Doc is the one pulling the strings.”

 

Miles’ hands stilled their work as all of his attention shifted to the man before him. Not-Aaron wasn’t looking good. Even in the dim lighting Miles could tell he was getting paler by the second. Whatever Miles had done to bandage the wound was not enough, he’d already lost too much blood. The only option left was for Miles to just be there for him. Help him move on.

 

“With Fisk outta the way Doc saw a chance to refine his plans. He didn’t need all this,” Not-Aaron swung his hand through the air to indicate the giant super collider behind them, “Nah, thought all that shit was ‘inelegant’.” He scoffed.

 

“Then what was he after?”

 

“He wanted these,” Not-Aaron shifted in place as he dug his hand deep into the pockets of his frayed trench coat. Eventually he pulled out two strange arm guards, just large enough to fit onto an adult’s wrist. Miles gingerly plucked one from him, wary because his sudden proximity to the device was setting off his Spidey Senses a little. _Whatever these things are my body doesn’t like ‘em._ It looked almost like two watches stacked on one another with a screen showing a string of numbers and letters.

 

“What is this?”

 

“A dimension travel watch.”

 

“A what now?”

 

Miles hoped Not-Aaron would be able to tell he was looking at him entirely in disbelief beneath the mask. Instead Not-Aaron just let out another half hearted laugh, but this time it was accompanied by a concerning streak of blood leaking out of his mouth. He swiped a hand over his chin, somehow making it worse. “A dimension travel watch,” he repeated. “Doc Ock’s greatest invention. Apparently it should be able to let him cross into other realities, he had some great big plan to take over the multiverse, y’know how it goes.” _Yeah, turns out Peter was right, all these villains did just want to take over one reality or another_ , “I couldn’t let that happen. So I fought him.”

 

Miles surveyed Not-Aaron; the bleeding mess of a human he was. Must’ve been a pretty recent fight only a few hours ago tops. If he were to hazard a guess which he very much didn’t want to do, he might even suggest it was about as long ago as when Miles first entered this reality.

 

“Think I broke ‘em,” he choked for a few seconds, struggling to breath past all the blood that filled his throat then continued while Miles listened with rapt attention “He didn’t really like that, decided to teach me a lesson. Got away though ‘nd came down here to see if I could take it all out in one go, collider too. Didn’t expect to find any spiders crawling about. Sorry for the crowbar.”

 

Miles simply nodded, well aware that the apology was not really about the crowbar, and that it honestly wasn’t really directed at him at all. It was for someone who shared his name, that’s all.

 

“How?” Not-Aaron looked at him curiously, “How were you going to destroy it, tell me and I’ll do it for you. You’re in no position to go around blowing up super colliders.” _He’s in no position to do just about anything_ , was all Miles could think as he watched the man sink lower to the ground while he struggled to even keep his eyelids open long enough to focus on Miles’ face.

 

“Just need to put this in,” Not-Aaron held up a small USB key. _A goober. Nice._ “Friend of mine wrote an override code that should trigger the self destruct program.”

 

“What kinda idiot includes a self destruct program?” Miles wondered.

 

“Same kind that thinks it’s cool to have four robot tentacles strapped to your back that can take over your mind at any time.” _Good point._ “Miles, I need-, I’m sorry man.”

 

Not-Aaron’s gaze dropped to the floor. But Miles knew his uncle, even if this guy was different he was still him. In a way. And that tone of voice, the one that sounded thick with guilt was something he’d never expected to hear again. Whatever he needed to say needed to be between Miles and Aaron. No matter which dimension they came from.

 

Miles reached up with only a slight hesitation and peeled the mask back to his forehead, letting them truly speak face to face for the first time since he’d held his uncle’s hand as he died in an alley.

 

Aaron looked up at the movement, sucking in a shocked gasp. “Didn’t think I’d see that face again.” His voice was hushed to a whisper.

 

“Tell me about it,” Miles joked although it came out as nothing but sad.

 

“I know you’re not my Miles but man, I _am_ sorry. It’s not enough to just say that, I know. But you? Kid, you’re the best thing in any world, you got the same spark my Miles did. You’re gonna do good and I know your uncle is proud of you, just like I am.”

 

With every word he slipped further away until Miles was left with his hand clutching that of a dead body.

 

 _No,_ a single tear rolled down his cheek, _not again. No... please._

 

He didn’t know how much time had passed while he sat there mourning, locked in a state of shock that made him numb to the outside world. That is, until the roof above shook with the force of a great explosion.

 

_Right, Peter and Gwen are risking their lives to buy me time. I need to get this over with._

 

_I need to end this._

 

With new determination Miles stood, grabbing the two dimension watches and key. With a leap he jumped into the collider, never looking back into the tunnel that held Aaron’s body.


	3. In which dimensions are traveled

Ripping his usb from the computer terminal Miles headed back to the elevator. It was time for him to leave this haunted place. And if he stayed down there any longer his friends would almost certainly come down looking for him, no matter the risk to their own safety. 

 

A soft ding sounded when the elevator doors opened back near the top of the hotel. The noise felt out of place but he had no time left to wallow. He had a mission and he needed his friends. More explosions could be heard coming from above and with each boom Miles struggled to run faster up the stairs. At last he burst from the hidden door back into Fisk’s bedroom to find a scene of utter chaos. Two dozen guards were lying unconscious, some of the bodies slumped against walls and furniture while others were sprawled haphazardly across the floor. There was a minimum of three separate fires, at least that Miles could see, and just about every available surface was covered in spiderwebs. Peter and Gwen had been backed into the room, their every move put them on the defensive. He had no idea how long he’d been underground but as he watched Gwen misstep, tripping over an unseen body, he figured it must’ve been far too long, after all she was much too graceful to ever make such a rookie mistake. 

 

A quick glance at Peter revealed much the same, although he figured out that he must’ve been the cause of the explosions because he was halfway through rewiring some kind of device he’d stolen from a guard and in seconds had thrown it between him and them, a brand new fire erupting in its place. 

 

Perhaps the biggest giveaway that Miles had been gone too long was that there was no conversation. No snappy one liners or witty banter, just two Spiders fighting their hardest to hold off those overpowered goons. 

 

Without a second thought Miles threw himself into the fray, remaining invisible long enough to sneak up on one man who was quite preoccupied with trying to hit Gwen with a shower of bullets. Miles was not a fan of that particular idea and decided that clearly the best course of action would be to punch him. 

 

_ OW. _

 

Miles looked down at his wrist in shock.  _ Did I just break my wrist on this guy’s face? _ A quick inspection showed that no, it wasn’t broken, but it had been such a long time since Miles had felt pain like that so unexpectedly that he was almost tempted to sit down and take a moment to recover. By now he was used to goons that went down with maybe one or two punches, and certainly none of them ever had skin made out of steel. No wonder it had taken Peter and Gwen so long to take down as many as they did. 

 

_ Well fighting them is gonna suck,  _ Miles thought before immediately afterwards remembering that he’d already gotten what he’d come for, which meant there was no real reason to stay there anymore. 

 

He allowed himself to become invisible right in the middle of the little troop. Each guard jumped back in surprise, so shocked to find  _ another _ spider right in between them that they forgot to actually fight him. 

 

“Hey guys,” Miles said with false cheer, “This looks like fun and all but my friends and I have got plans so we’ll just get out of your hair if you don’t mind. Oh, I see you’ve all decided to point your guns at me instead, that’s an interesting choice considering I’m bulletproof. It’s also interesting considering I can do this.” 

 

Immediately invisible again Miles leapt to the ceiling and crawled back towards the open window he’d just seen Peter and Gwen vacate while the guards were distracted. The second he emerged he became visible so the other two knew to follow him and leapt into the air, swinging far, far away from that place. 

 

“So, bulletproof?” Peter asked when they landed some minutes later.

 

“I needed to buy more time okay? Also I didn’t want to get shot.” Peter nodded in understanding.

 

“What’d you find?” Gwen asked, “Was Kingpin down there?”

 

Miles wasn’t sure how to explain everything that had just happened. He tried to speak but each time the words got caught in his throat.  _ It’s too much. I can’t do it. I ca- _

 

A small gasp escaped him when Miles felt Peter’s large arms circling him. He didn’t know how long he let himself just be held, but to his surprise Peter’s impromptu hug actually made him feel better. Maybe it was some secret hidden spider power. Or maybe it was just because he knew he had these two friends that were maybe the only people in the universes that would understand him. But it was enough, he knew he could tell them and everything would turn out just fine as long as they were together. 

 

Extracting himself from the hug Miles peeled his mask back so he could look at Peter and Gwen who did the same. 

 

“Okay so this world’s Doc Ock was hired by Kingpin to make another super collider but he took over, corrupted Kingpin’s mind somehow, then he made these,” Miles passed over the two dimension watches which the spiders took carefully, “Apparently he never got it quite right though which is how Peter and I got pulled in here,” He ignored Gwen’s scoff at the idea he was ‘pulled’ and didn’t totally jump. “Also I got this USB drive full of the schematics and things on some computers I found.”

 

“Wow,” Peter said, both impressed and surprised that Miles had managed to get all that done.

 

“And if my timing’s right then that whole collider down there should be-” Before he’d even finished his sentence a great rumbling shock came from below the hotel. Immediately screams and sirens could be heard as everyone tried to figure out how that earthquake had happened in such a specific place. “Yeah, the collider is gone now.” Miles finished, smiling at their twin looks of shock. 

 

“Wow,” Gwen said, both impressed and surprised Miles had managed to get all that done. “How’d you do that?”

 

“Plugged in some kind of self destruct virus I don’t really know.” He admitted with a shrug.

 

Peter just raised an eyebrow at him, ‘How’d you get one of those? And how do you know all that stuff about Fisk if you haven’t read the info from the computers?”

 

“I met a guy.”

 

“A guy?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Can we know who this guy is?”

 

“Aaron Davis.”

 

Miles watched Peter sit back in confusion, his brows furrowing as he tried to think why he recognised that name. He was happy to just let him figure it out on his own but Gwen seemed to have other ideas as she elbowed him in the stomach. He watched her face go through an impressive range of expressions until Peter’s memories seemed to click into place. In unison they both turned to Miles in concern, trying to gauge just how emotionally traumatised he was.  _ That’s kind of sweet of them, in their own way _ .

 

“You alright?” Gwen asked, never one to beat around the bush.

 

“I will be,”  _ Huh, I might actually be telling the truth there,  _ “He’s gone now though. No reason to live in the past right?”

 

To their credit both Gwen and Peter made an admirable attempt to accept Miles obvious plea to change the subject, although he had no doubt the conversation would resurface at some point.

 

“Alright, well what’s our next move?” Gwen asked them. All three of them slumped down where they sat.  _ The collider was never going to be finished without Fisk and Ock working together, so that’s a bust, _ Miles thought even as a headache built in the back of his mind,  _ we could bring the dimension watches to Ock and get him to fix them.  _ Miles almost opened his mouth to suggest that until he realised that then Doc Ock would have access to interdimensional travel which was kind of a big no-no. 

 

Glancing up, Miles figured Peter was having pretty much the same struggle to come up with a plan, then again maybe his face was only so scrunched up because he was trying to pretend he hadn’t gotten beaten up ten minutes earlier. Once again their saviour arrived in the form of Gwen who had been sitting there, turning a dimension watch in her hand over and over like she could somehow figure it out just by looking long enough.

 

“Okay guys,” she declared as she stood up, ignoring Peter’s groan of protest but he too stood as well as Miles, “I’ve looked at this thing long enough and I think I’ve got it figured out.”  _ Are you serious? _ “But we’re going to have to get back to my place and probably hide you two in the attic for tonight.”

 

Miles simply shrugged, that seemed like a better plan than nothing. It also seemed Peter agreed too because right before they all swung back into the air he was pretty sure he heard him mutter that an attic definitely wasn’t the worst place he’d slept. Miles felt no need to reply because that statement came as a surprise to just about no one ever. 

  
  


-

 

As they climbed into Gwen’s house from the rooftop Miles considered whether it was pathetic that the first time he’d snuck into a girl’s room at night had absolutely nothing to do with some kind of fun romantic escapade, or if it was cool that he was basically sneaking in so they could solve an awesome interdimensional world ending problem. 

 

For the sake of his dignity he chose to accept the latter option.

 

Gwen led the other spiders back down into her room, sure to check around every corner for her parents but no Spidey Senses went off so they were probably fine. Immediately after the door shut behind them she crossed to the other side of the room and began rooting around under what looked like an impressive pile of dirty laundry, school books and a surprising number of tools. 

 

“Aha!” She declared, rising up again with something in her hands.  _ It’s like another dimension watch, how’d she get one of those? _ “I knew I had this around somewhere,” she said absentmindedly as she sat at her desk and put down Doc Ock’s dimension watch next to hers. “After our last adventure I thought it might be helpful if I could find a way to contact you guys for help,”  _ Woah. That’s actually such a good idea.  _

 

“I bet you just missed us,” Miles teased and grinned when she automatically rolled her eyes in response. But she totally didn’t deny it. 

 

“ _ Anyway _ , I was working on this for a few months but I could never get it right. I’m pretty sure I nearly breached a different universe but something went wrong and I completely fried the wiring.” She glared down at the watch like it was to blame for all their problems. “If you guys can give me a few hours I’ll see if I can figure out where Doc Ock was going with this, maybe I can adapt it so you guys can go home.”

 

Peter and Miles shrugged, happy to let her figure things out if she wanted.

 

“Very nice,” Peter said. His stomach rumbled so loudly all three of the rooms occupants glanced at it in shock. “What would also be very nice is pizza. I’m going to go grab some. Gwen you want anything?” Peter nodded at her request for ham and pineapple, proud that someone else clearly had good taste. “Miles you coming?”

 

He couldn’t get up fast enough. Miles and Peter retraced their earlier path to a pizza joint a few streets over.  _ Is this place also in Peter’s universe or does he just spend most of his time looking for food when he’s swinging?  _ Miles was a little afraid to ask, after all he wasn’t sure what he should think if the man he looked to as a mentor spent the majority of his time looking for his next snack when he was in the middle of saving the world. 

 

A warm room with pleasant lighting and quiet chatter greeted them when they walked through the door, Miles could appreciate a place like this although he didn’t even have time to properly glance around the room before Peter was making his way to a seat, already scanning the menu and humming appreciatively. A waiter was called over in less than a minute and Peter rattled off a list of pizza’s he wanted, pronto.

 

Being sat in a booth opposite Peter, instantly reminded Miles of just how gross it was to watch him eat.  _ Ew _ . Regardless, Peter managed to keep up a surprisingly decent conversation despite the absolute mountain of food he could stuff into his mouth. 

 

“‘Ou like ’eing Spi’er-M’n?” 

 

“Yeah,” Miles should really get an award for his ability to ignore the steady drip of tomato sauce sliding down Peter’s chin. “New York likes me these days which is nice. Except for this one guy.” Peter looked at him curiously. “His name is J. Jonah Jameson and he’s kind of the worst.”

 

Peter barked out a laugh. “Ah yeah, don’t worry bud, Jonesy Baby is harmless.”

 

_ I don’t think I even want to know.  _ Instead of addressing whatever history Peter had with his Jameson Miles elected to just reach over and steal a slice of his pizza, appalled at the sheer volume of grease on it and he wondered how it was even possible for someone to actually enjoy food like that. Then Peter made an obscenely gross, appreciative noise that Miles set about doing his very best to forget before he became scarred forever.

 

“Y’know,” he said warily, trying to redirect the conversation to actual words, “MJ even made a statement that my world’s Peter would be honoured someone took up the mantle.” He couldn’t help but beam with pride at that. It had been one hell of a day to wake up and see his face, well mask, on the news and hear an endorsement from the wife of Actual Peter Parker Spider-Man. 

 

“‘Course he’d be bud, ‘f ‘e’s any-ing ‘ike me ‘e’d be stupid not ta.” Miles watched the man burp so loudly that half the restaurant patrons turned to him in disgust.  _ I got the feeling he wasn’t quite like you,  _ he thought fondly,  _ but I’m glad you’re the one here with me anyway.  _

 

Miles immediately retracted that thought when the bill arrived and Peter looked at him like he actually had money on him. Which he did, but he was pretty sure that this place wouldn’t accept alternate-dimensional currencies; they were probably bad for inflation. 

 

“Why would I have cash from here?” 

 

“Don’t you have a card?”

 

“Don’t you?”

 

“I left it on my Earth.”

 

“Well my bank doesn’t exist in this world.”

 

“Ah.”

 

“Yep.”

 

“Run for it?” Peter suggested. 

 

“Aren’t we meant to be heroes?” Miles asked even as he stood up super causally to mimic Peter’s movements. 

 

“We sure are buddy,” he said stealing another slice of pizza from a nearby table despite Miles’ protests. “And this is what I like to call a ‘Hero’s Wage.”

 

“You just say that so you don’t feel guilty about stealing stuff don’t you?” Miles furrowed his eyebrows and tried to look as disapproving as possible. Peter took one look at that face and simply laughed, which definitely meant the answer was “yes”.

 

Together they left the diner, Gwen’s dinner in hand and guilt in hearts. Heart. Singular. Just Miles’ heart really. He spent the entire walk back to her place doing his best to convince Peter that stealing the pizza was not a “fair trade for saving the world” especially if it wasn’t even  _ his _ world that he’d saved. 

 

-

 

“-that doesn’t even make sense, the only thing you’ve actually contributed to this universe is that you stole from it! You’ve created a net loss of good in the world.”

 

Gwen didn’t bother glancing up at the sound of Miles protest when they walked into the room, she was too busy grinning so widely one might think her face was about to split. In her hands was some kind of mutant hybrid of the her dimensional watch and Doc Ock’s. 

 

“Hey guys,” she said “guess who just solved all our problems.” 

 

“Was it you?” Peter asked curiously, putting down her pizza and stealing yet another slice. _Seriously does this guy’s stomach ever get full?_ He reached over to pick the watch out of her hands but she slapped his greasy hands away because obviously she wasn’t going to let Peter pick up the very precious and sensitive invention that possibly had the ability to tear holes into the fabric of space and time when his hands were covered in pizza grease. _What a surprise._

 

“No touching.” She ordered. “Well not yet anyway. We don’t know how effective this thing is going to be or even how volatile it is.” Peter withdrew his hand which of course then reached back to the pizza box to take another slice in one smooth arc. “I see you Peter,” she said without actually doing anything to stop him so he continued to eat without hesitation. 

 

“Anyway I think these should work but we should probably head back to the portals you guys came through. I want to run some tests.”

 

“Okay but can we do this tomorrow? I, uh, I’d like to sleep for a while.” Miles voice shook only the smallest bit but that was enough for Gwen and Peter to recall just what had happened earlier that day. It somehow felt like it had been so long ago that they’d broken into Fisk’ base and so long since Aaron… 

 

Gwen nodded and Peter clasped a hand on his shoulder and for a little while that was enough. Then Miles extracted himself and retreated to the attic. 

 

-

 

The next morning he awoke to Gwen right in front of his face. 

 

“Miles,” she hissed “get up.”

 

He was immediately on guard, his eyes scanning the dingy little room for any sign of danger. But the only thing that really set his teeth on edge though was a terrible, grating noise that emanated from the mound of blankets that was Peter’s sprawled out form.  _ Did he just yawn or open a gate to hell? _ Miles wondered, and never really got an answer because the sound reappeared and was equally as terrifying the second time. 

 

“My dad wants to know how a bear got into our attic because that’s the only explanation he has for all  _ that _ ,” she gestured over to Peter who still had not shut up, “And he’s coming up here so you guys need to leave. Now. I’ll meet you at the portals.”

 

Miles nodded and was already across the room struggling to lug Peter’s unconscious body.  _ Aw man, has this guy ever eaten a vegetable in his life or is it just carbs? _

 

Drowsily, Peter lifted his head to see what was happening when Miles pulled open the roof access door. He blinked sluggishly while his brain slowly caught up but apparently not fast enough because seconds later he was being hurled off the edge of the building. Miles’ arms wrapped tighter around his waist as he struggled to keep the other man upright while they swung far away from the threat that was Gwen’s dad. Thankfully though, Miles didn’t need to worry for long about keeping Peter upright or even awake because they both slammed into the ground.

 

_ Ow _ .

 

Pushing up from the dirt Miles shook his head,  _ how did I forget what swinging with him was like, _ he wondered as he recalled his last adventures in trying to direct an unconscious Peter Parker through New York when attached to a moving train.  _ At least it’s not that bad this time.  _ Peter would most likely beg to differ considering he was busy picking gravel out of his chin while Miles scanned their surroundings to see if they’d been noticed. 

 

“You could’ve woken me up.” Peter grumbled.

 

“You know we definitely wouldn’t’ve been able to in time,” he countered, jumping to his feet and pulling Peter up beside him despite all of his protests. “Now c’mon we’re meeting Gwen at the portals.”

 

-

  
  


A single light footstep was the only warning they had that Gwen had arrived.  _ One day I’m gonna learn to do that _ . She pulled off her mask when she stopped on their rooftop to look down at the other two.

 

“I left you guys alone for ten minutes. How do you already have a burger? Is this what you normally have for breakfast?” The disgust in her voice was clear, not that Peter seemed to care he was far too busy shovelling his food down.

 

“‘Ou ‘uys woke ‘e up I gotta ea’.” 

 

“O-kay,” She said slowly, “Well I’m here so we can figure this all out now,” the dimension watches in her hand rattled. “But I have a question: Where did the portals go?”

 

Miles’ gaze immediately shifted to the free air space above the rooftop where the portal he had tumbled out of had once been. 

 

“I dunno.”

 

“Alright, well how long has it been gone?”

 

“I dunno.”

 

“Have you even tried to look around and see if there are any more?”

 

“Nah.”

 

“Miles?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“You’re spending too much time with Peter.”

 

They managed to hold eye contact for two whole seconds before erupting into laughter. Peter continued to sit on the floor between them, entirely aware that he was being made fun of; despite that though a small smile crept up on his face too. He was always happy to see the pair of them getting along. 

 

When they’d calmed down again at least enough to ignore all of the nerves they were feeling at the thought that they might have to say goodbye again very soon, Gwen passed over Doc Ock’s watches. 

 

“So I’ve been working on these all night and they should work. I was hoping the portals might still be here but I honestly didn’t expect it.”

 

“What did you expect?” Peter asked curiously.

 

“Well right now my hypothesis is that you two were brought here because of the spider blood.”

 

_ She knows we’re not actually spiders right? _

 

“I know you’re not actually spiders of course,” she added hastily,  _ oh my god she can read minds _ “And no Miles I can’t read minds if that’s what you’re thinking,”  _ Holy shit she can  _ “I can’t. But the look on your face tells me you’re not going to believe me anyway. So if you give me a second to actually explain,” she looked pointedly at him until he shut his mouth, holding on to all the unasked questions that were on the tip of his tongue, “Thank you. Now my main theory is that the way that Miles’ Doc Ock brought the rest of us Spider-People over there was because that world’s Peter Parker got shoved into the beam right Miles? Yeah, so that super collider copied and searched for the newly introduced DNA sample but it picked up on the spider that bit him not he himself. And seeing as the rest of us share that DNA in one way or another, we were the ones that got pulled to you.”

 

Miles found himself nodding along to her explanation, after all it was one that made perhaps the most sense. He wouldn’t deny he’d been wondering about how they’d all gotten there for months but he was pretty sure that wasn’t the mystery they were all trying to solve right at that moment.

 

“I know that’s not the mystery we’re trying to solve right at this moment,”  _ Okay that’s still freaky _ “But I’m pretty sure it was that first successful breach that resulted in the portals that were here. When Aaron messed with my Doc Ock’s dimensional watches they must’ve triggered a reaction similar to the super collider but on a much smaller scale, and being so tiny it could only disrupt the parts of the space time continuum that had already been disrupted earlier.”

 

Gwen’s excitement at her discovery was not exactly shared between the other two. Peter and Miles shared an uncertain look.

 

“So our worlds are vulnerable to being breached again?” Miles asked, already imagining dozens of interdimensional villains attacking his home city with only him to defend it on his own.

 

“Well yes,” she conceded, though the light never left her eyes, “But no one else knows that. My Doc Ock has no idea you guys were even here. And the portals that were accidentally torn have repaired themselves.”

 

“I still don’t get why you’re so excited though,” he said.

 

“Because genius, I made these.” She gestured to the watches that Peter and Miles still clutched in their hands. “My design was almost perfect but I’d totally forgotten the DNA matches to help locate parallel worlds, but now I’ve crossed referenced DNA samples from all three of us and I think I’ve located the abnormalities caused by the spider bites.”

 

_ Doesn’t it take a lot of high tech equipment and at least a few days to work that stuff out?  _ Miles wondered before remembering that not only had Gwen been working on this for months but she’d repeatedly admitted to him over the last day that she regularly broke into her dad’s police station and other government buildings to help out her investigations.  _ Yeah, this checks out _ .

 

“So we can find our own universes with this thing?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“So this is goodbye,” Miles didn’t mean to say it aloud but the words slipped out without his permission.  _ I just got them back, why do I have to lose them again? Why isn’t anything in my life permanent? Why is it always me?!  _

 

He was torn from his self pitying thoughts at the feeling of a strong hand clasping onto his shoulder comfortingly.

 

“Hey bud,” Peter was crouched down awkwardly, but he managed to look Miles right in the eyes as he spoke, “This is goodbye, but not forever. With these things we can just hop on over to each other’s universe’s-” 

 

“We shouldn’t do it that often though” Gwen interjected. 

 

“-We shouldn’t do it that often though,” Peter nodded sagely, “But still, if you ever need us you’ll know where we are. She’ll be over here saving her world and I’ll be saving mine, but in an even cooler way than she did.” Her disbelieving scoff was promptly ignored. “As a wise man on my Earth once said: we’re all in this together.”

 

Behind Peter’s back Miles could see Gwen rolling her eyes and mouthing something about high schools, but when she caught his eye she smiled and stepped forward until they were all facing one another.

 

“Thanks for popping in for a visit,” she joked, “But I think there are two universes out there that are missing their Spider-Men.” Her voice wavered for a moment, clearly struggling to find the right words, “I’ll always be here if you need me. That’s what friends do for each other.”

 

Miles felt himself smile her words warming his heart and easing his conscience and all of a sudden returning back to his world no longer seemed quite so daunting. Before either of them could protest he pulled them into a hug, and held them tight. Every one of his senses were filled with a sense of home and comfort as he stood on a strange roof in an entirely different New York in a whole different Universe, but he was in the arms of his friends which would always be the same no matter where he ended up. When he pulled away he placed the watch on his wrist and fiddled with the dials until he found a match for his dimension. With a final deep sigh he grinned at his friends and opened a portal, stepping through into the world he knew so well. 

 

He was Spider-Man. And he wasn’t alone. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone thanks for reading this, I'm not sure how I feel about this last chapter but I hope you all enjoyed the story. Also I've tried leaving the end a bit open so let me know if any of you want a sequel or just more spideyfam stories.  
> Feel free to come send prompts at https://mauverawrites.tumblr.com/ or just say hi :))

**Author's Note:**

> Hey just btw I made a tumblr https://mauverawrites.tumblr.com/  
> So please come talk to me there so we can scream about Into the Spiderverse


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